Nitišs, the youngest World RX winner, made the switch from Olsbergs MSE to the All-Inkl.com squad for the 2016 season after discussions with a number of teams.

The 20-year-old amassed seven podium place finishes during his two year stint at Olsbergs MSE bagging a win at the Norway round in 2014, but endured a podium drought during the latter half of the 2015 season.

The Latvian, who finished third overall in the 2014, is keen to get back behind the wheel after intense preparations during the winter break. “This was a long and eventful winter,” said Nittis, “I will begin this season from a nearly blank slate, with only the experience from the last few seasons to fall back on.

“I am with a new team, have a new team-mate and will be racing a completely new race car – Seat Ibiza RX. I have also completely changed the physical and mental preparation process, for which I would like to thank my coach and mentor; the three-time world sidecarcross champion Kaspars Stupelis!”

The All-Inkl.com team contested the 2014 and 2015 campaigns using the Audi S3 but have developed a brand new Seat Ibiza for the 2016 season. Nitiss praised the hard work of the team and is full of positivity as he feels the car shows good signs of progress.

“Currently, the team ‘mechanism’ has a lot new of ‘gears’ and everyone at [the team] is looking forward to the results of their hard work.

“The preseason testing shows that we have definitely moved in the right direction over the winter, and gives reason to be optimistic before the first event.”

However, Nitišs is erring on the side of caution. With an impressive roster of established names entering the World Rallycross Championship, the 20-year-old believes it’ll be more competitive than ever.

“Sébastien Loeb and Ken Block have joined the championship this year, and Jānis Baumanis will also contest all the Supercar events. That just shows the ever-increasing popularity of Rallycross and means that the goal of reaching finals in each event has gotten that much more difficult.” he added.